Karma and Rebirth – In a Nutshell

Everything I know about Buddhism – and it’s a fair amount – comes from my Burmese mother, but even she would have been impressed with Jinananda’s intelligent encapsulation of one of the world’s great religions into a mere 78 minutes. No, that’s not his real name. He was born Duncan Steen in Bedford in 1952, joined the Western Buddhist Order when he was 34 and has written scholarly books about karma (i.e. action/energy) and what he prefers to call rebirth rather than reincarnation. The key to enlightenment is selflessness, but what exactly is self? “The self,” says Jinananda, “is like a wave. Each wave has its own characteristic shape but it also changes at every moment, as does the water of which it is composed. It is the same with rebirth – there is no unchanging or separate entity that passes from one life to the next. What does pass to the next life is the wave of karmic propensities or choices made in the previous life.” It is unashamedly brain-taxing at times, but never for too long. Why did my mother never tell me that in the centre of all Buddhist prayer wheels there’s a tiny model of a farmyard in which a cock, a pig and a snake, representing craving, illusion and hatred, are chasing each other in circles? Eat, love and pray by all means, but take time to learn as well.

Sue Arnold, The Guardian

Compact guides to political, financial and ethical issues are the current fashion in audio publishing, and Naxos’s In a Nutshell series weighs in at the more intellectually taxing end of the market. Close attention to this study of the theory and practice (well, theory mainly, obviously) of rebirth will open your mind to the fundamental mysteries of human existence. Though covering many religions and traditions, its overall viewpoint is Buddhist and the central concept of karma – that “ethical or unethical choices of action have consequences now and in future lives” – might lead to a helpful re-examination of one’s behaviour. No easy answers here, but confirmation that “existence is necessarily impermanent and unsatisfactory”.

Karen Robinson, The Sunday Times

Karma and Rebirth in a Nutshell is an accessible starting point. Its lucid and persuasive author and narrator Jinananda began with the Venerable Bede’s likening of a human lifespan to a sparrow flying out of darkness and into a bright feasting hall, then disappearing into the deep forest. Karma led me to The Voice of the Buddha on which Kulananda guides the listener through the Buddhist equivalents of the Christian gospels. To set things in context, I listened to David Timson presenting The Middle Way: The Story of Buddhism, and tomorrow I’m setting off to Cornwall listening to Kulananda’s guide to mental discipline, The Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path Traffic jams? No problem – they are just temporary hiccups in the eternal flux.

Christina Hardyment, The Times

This is a scholarly yet accessible introduction to the spiritual theory often called “reincarnation.” The author, born Duncan Steen in 1952 in Great Britain, became a Buddhist in 1986. He is the author of several books on Buddhism. The introduction makes clear that the topic is not a simple one, with a history of debatable nuances among believers of various, Eastern traditions. Jinananda makes clear he is speaking from the Buddhist tradition, and that the various Buddhist traditions are somewhat splintered on the subject. He begins with research from a University of Virginia professor which details accounts of children and adults across the globe who have seemingly remembered past lives. This includes the phenomena of children exhibiting mastery of foreign languages not logically available to them and knowledge of verifiable facts of history they could not know. He then delves into the subjects of Karma, Tibetan Buddhist cosmology, and other aspects of the subject. His grasp is broad and his enthusiasm for the subject apparent. He reads in a calm, unaffected manner. This is an excellent resource for those interested in the subject.

Nancy Chaplin, SoundCommentary.com